Okay, this is a true story.

I have a friend who once faked his own death

so he could have more time to watch his favorite TV show.

In my new podcast, Truthless, I'm talking to people about the lies they tell. From forging

new identities to taking their love of Game of Thrones a little too far.

From Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network, I'm Brian Phillips.

Listen to Truthless on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, October 15th.

Today, we're talking about men.

As we barrel toward election day, it's important to me that our coverage doesn't fall into the trap of poll watching and outright advocacy.

You don't need me to tell you what the latest polls say on any given week. You can Google that.

What I prefer to do is to offer context that helps people make sense of how the country is changing and

how electoral politics is both reflecting and driving that change.

And there are a few stories that fit this category better than the state of men in America. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a

blockbuster story with the headline America's Young Men are falling even

further behind.

Now these kind of headlines have a habit of

often being a bit hyperbolic,

so let's ground this in some data to prove to you,

prove to myself that something real is happening here, something real and worth paying

attention to. So we'll break this down into three categories, education, living arrangements,

and time use. First education. The share of male high school graduates who go

on to college has declined sharply in the last 10 years. Women are now much more likely to graduate from four-year colleges

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